Are Marcus and Cassius humans? Yes, but imaginary, just illustrating the point.Ancient Romans? YesLocation relevant? Yes Is the weather actually warmer than it usually is in this place and time? Yesish - OTRT

Season relevant? YesishWeather relevant? YesishAdditional heat provided by some fictitious creature? A phoenix? The puzzle take place during a Greek myth? Gods relevant? mythological characters present? relevant? mythological beasts present? relevant? None of these

I realise I may have been a little hasty when I answered Brian's question about Pompeii with "No". In actual fact, Pompeii would have been affected by the event in the puzzle, as it took place prior to 79AD. Sorry, Sciguy47, .

Is there an actual weather anomally occuring? No. The weather itself remained normal. A historical one? Yes. The event is historical.Has the ground somehow become warmer? The general atmosphere? \The breeze? The sun? No to all these.

Has some event occurred that has affected the weather? An event certainly occurred. Although the weather itself did not change, it is probably true to say that the event changed Josephus Publicus' perception of it.

By Benjamin Moore (Zenith) on Sunday, April 10, 2005 - 02:58 am:

So is it likely that Cassius and Marcus would have had this convosation? Quite possibly, had they been real Romans!Or is this more metaphorical, just stating that they are Roman and it's hot - weather wise or no? See previous answer.

(although if they did it'd be more like: "Intepstiuus percalesco tempestuas et annus, Marcus?" "Ego concordo, Cassius" ) Et tu, Zenithus!Yes I know "Zenith" isn't Latin but it's the best I could come up with!

So humans somehow used the heat from the sun to make it warmer than it would be otherwise? Magnifying glass invloved? Is something made to absorb more heat than normal? Something painted black? The people who somehow created additional heat using the sun, are they Greek? relevant? Are these people assoicated somehow that is relevant? Did the people who increased the heat somehow remove a cooling device?

So humans somehow used the heat from the sun to make it warmer than it would be otherwise? NoMagnifying glass invloved? Is something made to absorb more heat than normal? Something painted black? The people who somehow created additional heat using the sun, are they Greek? relevant? Are these people assoicated somehow that is relevant? Did the people who increased the heat somehow remove a cooling device? Interesting line of questions but all F/A I'm afraid.

Is the actual heat reaching these Romans the same it has always been? Yes Has their perception of the heat changed? Yesish but could be misleading has an accelerated greenhouse effect occured due to a Volcano eruption nearby? No and no volcanoes were involved

*****SPOILER****** 46BC was a long year, a very long year - it lasted 445 days. The reason for this was that Julius Caesar - yes, that one - decided to commission a new calendar. The old one, based on lunar months, was hopelessly out of sync with the seasons, the Spring Equinox then arriving around the middle of May, instead of mid-March, hence the clue. In order to get the seasons back into kilter, an extra 80 days were calculated to be needed, 23 added to February and two months added between November and December. The year, unsurprisingly, became known as the Year of Confusion.

Thanks to everyone who contributed and well done to Ian who finally cracked it!

This was a good subject for a lateral puzzle, and a well-phrased puzzle statement. I particularly liked the clue to Caesar in using the names of the most famous of his assassins. Thanks, Philippus. I'm glad someone noticed the names. I considered "Brutus" but decided it was far too obvious! Glad you enjoyed the puzzle.

Actually, the names are sort of what led me to the calendar... I thought of Cæsar, and we'd just started the play in my English class, so our teacher had told us of the "great deads" of Julius Cæsar, so....